Source: Radio New Zealand
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister Nicola Willis speak to media following Luxon’s State of the Nation address in Auckland. RNZ / Calvin Samuel
The Prime Minister says he isn’t worried about being offside with National MPs who have supported more housing intensification in Auckland, as he responds to questions about a potential u-turn on the issue.
Speaking to reporters after his State of the Nation speech, Christopher Luxon says the conversation in Auckland was about “how much densification” and “where it happens.”
He said he’d told Aucklanders “we know it’s a sensitive issue” and he plans to “listen” and “digest” the feedback.
“I don’t think there’s a problem when you actually say, I’ve listened to feedback and I’m going to do something different about it on the basis of that.”
RMA Minister Chris Bishop had directed Auckland Council to allocate up to two million homes in the coming decades, but last week he confirmed the coalition was considering weakening housing intensification laws in Auckland.
Luxon dismissed the idea he and Bishop weren’t on the same page, saying they’d had a “very dynamic conversation” well before Christmas.
“It won’t surprise you, but in our government, we actually talk to each other a lot, and quite dynamically and consistently.
“It’s regular. It’s not formalized. We’re just very open and transparent.”
Luxon said the Council should go through its feedback process, and the government would look and “be prepared to listen” to that feedback.
“There is genuine change that’s going to be needed, and we’re up for doing that.”
He said it was for Auckland Council to make decisions about specific suburbs, but he wanted to get the balance right between densification in the CBD, greenfields growth, and what was needed in various suburbs.
He wouldn’t budge on whether the two million figure would be decreased or not, saying the government would have more to say soon.
He said Bishop had been “working hard” on it for a couple of months, “he will come forward with his views and explain that shortly.”
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
